MotoGP set for 'very wet' French Grand Prix weekend?

The 2020 MotoGP season has been full of surprises, with six different race winners, four of them standing on the top step for the first time this season.

Another variable could be thrown into the mix this weekend at Le Mans, with forecasts currently predicting the first wet MotoGP race of the season.

MotoGP set for 'very wet' French Grand Prix weekend?

The 2020 MotoGP season has been full of surprises, with six different race winners, four of them standing on the top step for the first time this season.

Another variable could be thrown into the mix this weekend at Le Mans, with forecasts currently predicting the first wet MotoGP race of the season.

MotoGP hasn't had an officially 'wet' grand prix since Brno 2019 and even that took place with slick tyres on a drying track.

The last fully wet MotoGP race was the 2018 season finale at Valencia, but this weekend's French round could finally break the 'drought'.

"Unfortunately, I checked the weather forecast and it seems that the whole week is going to be very, very wet, which is a worry," said Herve Poncharal, team boss of the local Tech3 KTM squad.

"So far, we didn’t have any wet races this year, so one day it’s maybe also interesting to see how the bike is working in these conditions, how we can exploit the incredibly grippy wet tyre from Michelin and also to see how good Miguel [Oliveira] and Iker [Lecuona] can be on the wet.

"This is not something we are very excited to face, but if we have to face it, we will try to record as much data as we can and be as competitive as we can. Outside of that, there’s not a lot to say. There is always close racing in Le Mans and it shouldn’t be different this year."

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) won from Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Pol Espargaro (KTM) during a restarted, soaking wet, race at Valencia in 2018.

The likes of current title leaders Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha) and Joan Mir (Suzuki) were not even competing in the premier-class at that time and this weekend might therefore see the first fully-wet MotoGP race laps for Quartararo, Mir, Miguel Oliveira, Brad Binder, Francesco Bagnaia, Alex Marquez and Iker Lecuona.

Tech3's Oliveira, winner of Austria 2, suffered his third DNF of the season last time in Catalunya and has slipped to ninth in the standings, 49 points from Quartararo.

"We’ve lost contact with the championship leaders by scoring a DNF in Montmeló, but still we would like to fight back, to score some important points in order to have a chance to stay inside the top 8 in the ranking and carry on working well with the KTM engineers in order to further develop the RC16," Poncharal said.

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